Eddie Jones, one of rugby union's original "super-coaches" and "still regarded in many quarters as the best of them," spent Thursday at Twickenham finalizing a four-year deal as England’s new boss, with the Rugby Football Union confirming his appointment early Friday morning, according to Chris Hewett of the London INDEPENDENT. The 55-year-old Australian, "the first foreigner to take on one of the most demanding jobs in the sport," was confirmed in his position by the governing body within 24 hours of arriving in London and "given carte blanche to piece together a back-room team of his choosing." Jones flew in from South Africa, "barely a week after embarking on a three-year term with the Cape Town-based Stormers." Initial reports that the RFU would have to find £700,000 ($1.06M) to "buy their man out of his Super Rugby contract appear to be wide of the mark:" some insiders put the figure at £100,000 ($151,900). Steve Borthwick, a former England captain, "could join up with a new coaching team under Jones." Departing England coach Stuart Lancaster's "principal lieutenants -- the backs coach Andy Farrell, the forwards strategist Graham Rowntree and the attacking skills specialist Mike Catt -- are still in post, but the odds on them surviving Jones' arrival are far from encouraging" (INDEPENDENT, 11/20). In London, Hugh Godwin reported the men in England who know Jones best said that he is a "demanding workaholic with a gentle, generous side." Saracens forwards coach Alex Sanderson, who was given his first coaching role by Jones in '06, said, "There is very little compromise with Eddie, he is his own man with knowing what he wants and getting it." Sanderson and Saracens defense coach Paul Gustard "have been mentioned as possible assistants to Jones, who will announce his backroom staff" after starting the England job formally on Dec. 1. Gustard: "I'm currently negotiating a new contract with Saracens, and I am very happy with what I’m doing" (INDEPENDENT, 11/22).
FIRST IMPRESSION: In London, Steve James wrote as an archetypical Australian Jones finishes a lot of sentences with "mate," as in a self-deprecatory "I don't have much in my mind, mate" or "I have asked the RFU for a fast car, mate!" when talking about the "madness of getting around all the clubs before selecting a squad for early January." This is "not an easy job, with the level of expectation so high that there will always be comparisons with the All Blacks," even if Jones was quick to state that he "did not wish to copy them," rather to "create our own unique style of play." Jones was "careful throughout all his media duties not to make judgment on specific players or coaches." It was understandable, "wholly necessary even, but it was also both frustrating and intriguing in equal measure." That is because right now "we want to know the identities of his assistant coaches." We want to know who "the captain is, the openside flanker, the fly-half and the inside centre." These are all "crucial decisions that will reveal so much about how Jones’s tenure will unfold, how he will approach it" (TELEGRAPH, 11/22). The BBC reported Jones said that he will maintain the RFU's policy of "not picking players based overseas" unless there are "exceptional circumstances." England has not fielded the past two winners of the European Player of the Year award "because they play in France." Jones: "I believe the current laws are the right regulation to have. I had a good discussion with RFU chief executive Ian Ritchie on that area and I understand" (BBC, 11/22).
